OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need some advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a 95
Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm physically
handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be more stable for
entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light in weight ( because the
car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble, diabetes
and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a used 12
foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite tender when
approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old aluminum 12 foot
Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun, but it was a bit heavy to
cartop (this was before the health probs hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I find a
great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd

Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need some advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a 95
Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm physically
handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be more stable for
entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light in weight ( because the
car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble, diabetes
and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a used 12
foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite tender when
approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old aluminum 12 foot
Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun, but it was a bit heavy to
cartop (this was before the health probs hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I find a
great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need some
advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a 95
Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm physically
handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be more stable for
entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light in weight ( because
the
car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble,
diabetes
and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a used
12
foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite tender when
approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old aluminum 12 foot
Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun, but it was a bit heavy
to
cartop (this was before the health probs hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I find
a
great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

I like to fish at a nearby irrigation reservoir, Ken's Lake, near my home in
Moab, Utah. It varies from about 2 to 4 acres and a maximum depth of about
80 ft. My eldest son says it's smaller than the flight deck on his ship (
CVN 75, Harry S. Truman) while he was in the Navy. It's also limited to
sail, manual or electric propulsion.

Budd

Sounds silly, but you may want to look into kayaks/canoes. Easy to
launch/rather lightweight, manual powered. I'm only mildly disabled, so a
regular canoe works for me, but my friend is much worse off and has an
outrigger canoe. Extremely stable/lightweight


"Budd Cochran" wrote in message

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need
some advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a
95 Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm
physically handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be
more stable for entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light
in weight ( because the car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I
can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble,
diabetes and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a
used 12 foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite
tender when approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old
aluminum 12 foot Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun,
but it was a bit heavy to cartop (this was before the health probs
hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I
find a great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

I like to fish at a nearby irrigation reservoir, Ken's Lake, near my
home in Moab, Utah. It varies from about 2 to 4 acres and a maximum
depth of about 80 ft. My eldest son says it's smaller than the flight
deck on his ship ( CVN 75, Harry S. Truman) while he was in the
Navy. It's also limited to sail, manual or electric propulsion.

Budd

We had a 16 foot Grumman that I bought thru the aluminum recycler I worked
for back in the early 90's when we were Foster Parenting.

With the outriggers, made from stacked chunks of pink insulation foam, it
was impossible to swamp it, but it lacked room for our fishing gear.

Budd
(who's beginning to believe there isn't a boat made that will work for him.)

"Peter Pan" wrote in message
ink.net...
Sounds silly, but you may want to look into kayaks/canoes. Easy to
launch/rather lightweight, manual powered. I'm only mildly disabled, so a
regular canoe works for me, but my friend is much worse off and has an
outrigger canoe. Extremely stable/lightweight


"Budd Cochran" wrote in message

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need
some advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a
95 Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm
physically handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be
more stable for entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light
in weight ( because the car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I
can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble,
diabetes and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a
used 12 foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite
tender when approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old
aluminum 12 foot Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun,
but it was a bit heavy to cartop (this was before the health probs
hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I
find a great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

I like to fish at a nearby irrigation reservoir, Ken's Lake, near my
home in Moab, Utah. It varies from about 2 to 4 acres and a maximum
depth of about 80 ft. My eldest son says it's smaller than the flight
deck on his ship ( CVN 75, Harry S. Truman) while he was in the
Navy. It's also limited to sail, manual or electric propulsion.

Budd

Then may I suggest you check out the inflatable fishing boats at
http://www.seaeagle.com/.

You can even get auto cig lighter air pumps to inflate em when you get to
the water. (deflate to put em in the trunk/back)

Check out the sea eagle 8 and 9's, they carry two people and lots of gear.

If you only have 1000LBS of towing available, almost anything on a trailer
is gonna weigh more than that.

A friend of mine carries one (deflated) in his RV so he can go fishing when
the mood strikes him.

"Budd Cochran" wrote in message

We had a 16 foot Grumman that I bought thru the aluminum recycler I
worked for back in the early 90's when we were Foster Parenting.

With the outriggers, made from stacked chunks of pink insulation
foam, it was impossible to swamp it, but it lacked room for our
fishing gear.

Budd
(who's beginning to believe there isn't a boat made that will work
for him.)

"Peter Pan" wrote in message
ink.net...
Sounds silly, but you may want to look into kayaks/canoes. Easy to
launch/rather lightweight, manual powered. I'm only mildly disabled,
so a regular canoe works for me, but my friend is much worse off and
has an outrigger canoe. Extremely stable/lightweight


"Budd Cochran" wrote in message

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need
some advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is
a 95 Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm
physically handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will
be more stable for entry and egress but I need it to be pretty
light in weight ( because the car has only a one ton tow
capacity) so I can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble,
diabetes and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a
used 12 foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite
tender when approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old
aluminum 12 foot Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun,
but it was a bit heavy to cartop (this was before the health probs
hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if
I find a great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of
your considerations should be where you are planning to use the
boat.,

I like to fish at a nearby irrigation reservoir, Ken's Lake, near my
home in Moab, Utah. It varies from about 2 to 4 acres and a maximum
depth of about 80 ft. My eldest son says it's smaller than the
flight deck on his ship ( CVN 75, Harry S. Truman) while he was in
the Navy. It's also limited to sail, manual or electric propulsion.

Budd

"Budd Cochran" wrote in message
...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need some
advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a 95
Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm physically
handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be more stable
for
entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light in weight ( because
the
car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I can load and launch it
easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble,
diabetes
and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a
used
12
foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite tender when
approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old aluminum 12
foot
Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun, but it was a bit
heavy
to
cartop (this was before the health probs hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I
find
a
great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

I like to fish at a nearby irrigation reservoir, Ken's Lake, near my home
in
Moab, Utah. It varies from about 2 to 4 acres and a maximum depth of about
80 ft. My eldest son says it's smaller than the flight deck on his ship (
CVN 75, Harry S. Truman) while he was in the Navy. It's also limited to
sail, manual or electric propulsion.

Budd



Take a look at some of the simpler Lund boats: www.lundboats.com. They make
an enormous variety of models - everything from very basic to quite
elaborate, and they hold their resale value VERY nicely.

I have a WC-14 which I easily towed with a '92 Taurus (6 cylinder engine).
On the web page, it looks like the old Grumman 3-bench rowboats that resorts
keep around for guests, but it's MUCH more stable and well built. Not a
great boat for lounging, though, if that's what the lady in your life has in
mind. It's in the "Adventure Series" on the web site. I have a 15 hp 4
stroke motor on it and it moves just fine with 3 adults. It's he
http://www.lundboats.com/index.cfm?i...&intModelID=69

I do most of my fishing on the Finger Lakes in upstate NY, and sometimes on
Lake Ontario. The latter can develop some very strange waves, but the Lund
handles them well (and safely). The only problem I've had (which I just
solved) was that if I'm alone in the boat on a day when I need to drive into
high winds, the combined weight of the gas tank, battery and me was enough
to raise to the bow to a point where it would catch the wind in, shall we
say, ways which build character. :-) I thought of moving the battery to the
bow, but it would require some creative carpentry that I haven't had the
time for. So, a bag of sand solved the problem for under ten bucks. I leave
the sand behind when I have passengers.

The boat, motor, tank of gas & trailer come in between 900 and 1000 lbs.

If you have not been religious about having your transmission filter & fluid
changed, now is the time to start. And, it might not be a bad idea to have a
transmission oil cooler installed. It's a mini-radiator just for that
purpose. Most are about the half the size of a loaf of bread. Your regular
mechanic should be able to handle the installation.

Finally, if you want something a little more comfortable, look at the 1660
Rebel Tiller:
http://www.lundboats.com/index.cfm?i...&intModelID=67

I'm not sure about the weight of that boat, though.

-Doug

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Budd Cochran wrote:
OK, folks. I'm thinking of getting my first new boat and I need some
advice.

I'm thinking I need a light, trailerable boat ( my tow vehicle is a 95
Chrysler LeBaron FWD) with about a 1000 pound capacity (I'm physically
handicapped and I figure a somewhat larger craft will be more stable for
entry and egress but I need it to be pretty light in weight ( because
the
car has only a one ton tow capacity) so I can load and launch it easily.

My physical limitations are from blood pressure and heart trouble,
diabetes
and Post Polio Syndrome.

So, what styles / lengths / brands should I look at?? I once had a used
12
foot aluminum Jon boat, but it was a bit narrow and quite tender when
approaching hull capacity. I borrowed my brother's old aluminum 12 foot
Sears rowboat once and lightly loaded it was fun, but it was a bit heavy
to
cartop (this was before the health probs hit.)

Oh, price is important too. I may go for a used boat / trailer if I find
a
great deal. VBG

TIA

Budd




A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

I have two grown sons, one 130 lbs and the other 280, myself and the wife
total 450+. While the boys are not going to be home much, they both love
fishing, so I want to be able to go on an all day, family outing. I want it
big enough to handle a large reservoir if I ever get a chance, like Blue
Mesa near Grand Junction CO or Lake Powell, but I have to be able to handle
it also.

I looked at some Carolina Skiff sites and the craft is too heavy.

Budd

"Budd Cochran" wrote in message
...


A 16' carolina Skiff....wide, stable, not too heavy. But one of your
considerations should be where you are planning to use the boat.,

I have two grown sons, one 130 lbs and the other 280, myself and the wife
total 450+. While the boys are not going to be home much, they both love
fishing, so I want to be able to go on an all day, family outing. I want
it
big enough to handle a large reservoir if I ever get a chance, like Blue
Mesa near Grand Junction CO or Lake Powell, but I have to be able to
handle
it also.

I looked at some Carolina Skiff sites and the craft is too heavy.

Budd



Too heavy for what, Budd? Launching & loading back onto the trailer? If so,
there are ways of making that MUCH easier by adding the appropriate trailer
accessories. I find I expend the most effort when I'm trying to get the boat
straight onto the trailer in a crosswind. If I wasn't a cheapskate, I'd add
a set of guideposts for under $100. I'd add rollers instead of carpeted
bunks, which would make it much easier to push the boat off the trailer.
And, you can put an electric winch on the trailer instead of the
hand-cranked version.

You're talking about fishing here. This is religion. You MUST find a way.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

Too heavy for what, Budd? Launching & loading back onto the trailer? If
so,
there are ways of making that MUCH easier by adding the appropriate
trailer
accessories. I find I expend the most effort when I'm trying to get the
boat
straight onto the trailer in a crosswind.

A few years ago, before my health probs, I found myself aiding a guy with
the retrieval of his fiberglass boat in only a 10 mph breeze. Solo, he
couldn.t handle it and he was about 6' 3". I Iearned quickly about
winds!!!! BG


If I wasn't a cheapskate, I'd add
a set of guideposts for under $100. I'd add rollers instead of carpeted
bunks, which would make it much easier to push the boat off the trailer.
And, you can put an electric winch on the trailer instead of the
hand-cranked version.

The hand crank wont be a problem as I do plan on some guides and roller
bunks. By using only a trolling motor, I won't have any power to spare so,
if I can get it to self-guide, the better off I'll be. Heck, if I can
figure out how, I may use the winch to launch and load.

You're talking about fishing here. This is religion. You MUST find a way.

LOL Well, fishing's not a religion to me, but it is one of my favorite
pastimes. I'm blessed also with a loving wife that also enjoys fishing, but
will also send me off to fish when she sees me getting stressed out. With
the frustrations from a forced early retirement, I get to drown lots of
worms.

Budd